


Thank You For the Music

by Miss_Mysteries



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn, in which these dorks are oblivious and cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:11:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6462586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Mysteries/pseuds/Miss_Mysteries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Marinette and Adrien fall into love shenanigans due to their obliviousness and complicated feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anything You Can Do

Adrien wasn’t usually one to be late for a patrol, as he hated having less time to see Ladybug. Usually, he’d be staring at the clock in anticipation, waiting until it was exactly time for him to transform and go meet Ladybug in the park to start the patrol. 

 

However, today was the exception. After the day he had, Adrien figured that he could just set an alarm on his phone to wake him up from his nap so he could get some sleep in before jumping around Paris looking for danger.

 

Mistake number one. 

 

Adrien had spent the entire day at a photoshoot, a full 10 hours of changing outfits and posing for a thousand photos. By the time he got home at 7pm, Adrien was dead tired. He collapsed onto his bed the moment he got home, falling asleep almost immediately. 

 

Groggily, he woke up from his sleep later in the night. Adrien rubbed his eyes, checking his phone. Surely he still had enough time to-

 

_ 8:32pm _

 

Adrien shot up out of bed, running to the center of his room. 

 

“Plagg! Plagg! Come on we need to head to patrol, we’re already half an hour late!” Adrien hissed, shambling about his room in a frenzy to find Plagg. Adrien skidded to a stop when he heard a soft snoring come from his trash can. He grabbed the trash can, looking inside to see his kwami sleeping with a half-eaten roll of cheese. Adrien rolled his eyes, grabbing Plagg by the tail.

 

“Wake up, Plagg! We have to go.” Adrien said. Plagg’s eyes slowly opened, and the cat kwami groaned. 

 

“Plagg, transform me!” Adrien whispered. Begrudgingly, Plagg was dragged into the ring, and Adrien transformed into Chat Noir. 

 

He went over to the window, escaping into the night.

 

Chat Noir jumped across rooftops as fast as he could, looking for Ladybug. He glanced to the park as he passed by, noting that Ladybug wasn’t there anymore. Chat sighed, knowing that she probably thought he flaked on her for the day. 

 

He made his way through Paris, keeping an eye out for a lady clad in red instead of looking for crime. Finally, he spotted her on the rooftop of the Collège Françoise Dupont, seated on top of the roof, staring out into the city. 

 

Chat Noir walked up behind her, and Ladybug could hear his footsteps echoing on the roof of the building. She turned around from where she was sitting, grinning at Chat when she saw him. 

 

“Well well, look what the cat dragged in. I figured you had abandoned me, Chat.” Ladybug teased. Chat held out a hand for her, and she took it, standing up from her seat. 

 

“Me? Abandon you, Bugaboo? I would never! Unfurrtunately, my sleep schedule seemed to be against me today.” Chat Noir replied, kneeling down to kiss Ladybug’s hand while he had it in his hand. She didn’t stop him, but rolled her eyes. 

 

“Okay,  _ chaton.  _ Glad you had a nice beautyrest. We should start this patrol soon, because unlike you, I actually made it here on time.” She joked again, holding out her yoyo in preparation to swing to the next building.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry I was sleeping, but what can I say! It’s the cat in me.” 

 

“Mhm. Sure. You should just admit that I’m better at remembering things than you.”

 

“No you’re not! If anything, I’m much better than you.” 

 

Ladybug scoffed at him, swinging to the next building over. Chat quickly followed. 

 

“Please Chat, anything you can do I can do better. It’s just the truth!” She said to him, hopping to the next building. She stood there, a hand on her hip as she waited for Chat to catch up to her.

 

“I can do  _ anything  _ better than you!” He called to her, using his baton to slingshot him a building ahead of her. He ran his hand through his hair as he landed, cocking his head and leaning on his baton as he stared down Ladybug across the building. Ladybug bit her tongue, snarling at her partner, a competitive glare in her eyes. She made her way next to him. 

 

“No you can’t.” She hissed as she ran past him, throwing her yoyo to wrap around a street light, swinging across the street to another building. 

 

“Yes I can!”

 

“No you can’t!” 

 

“Yes I can!” He called teasingly out to her, meeting her in the middle of the street of the block they were on. 

 

Ladybug cocked a hip. 

 

“So you really think that? Well, I bet you I could reach the Eiffel Tower before you.” Ladybug bet, holding out her hand for Chat to shake. He chuckled, showing off his lopsided grin. 

 

“You’re on, My Lady. But when you lose, please try not to take it purr-sonaly.” Chat said, releasing his grip on Ladybugs hand to get ready to head off.

 

“Ready… set…” Ladybug started.

 

“Go!” Chat yelled, getting a head start on the way there as he extended his baton to get a good view of where the tower was, and then leaning his baton in the direction he was supposed to go.

 

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Ladybug called out as she swung across buildings with her yoyo. Chat chuckled. 

 

“Hey, I said go. That’s purr-fectly in line with the non-existent rules we placed!” He said, justifying his actions. Ladybug didn’t respond, Chat presuming she was too focused on trying to catch up with him to respond. He let out a laugh, knowing that he was going to win. The Eiffel Tower was in sight, and he was still ahead of Ladybug. Chat slowed down a bit, guessing he could win even if he took a brief pause. 

 

Chat Noir was only stopped for around a second when a flash of red went flying up above him towards the tower. Chat’s eyes widened as he made one last final stride with his baton to get to the tower. However, by the time he got there, Ladybug was already sitting on one of the beams of the tower, spinning her yoyo on her pointer finger. Chat sighed, extending his baton to go and sit next to her. 

 

“Slow and steady wins the race, my friend.” Ladybug grinned as Chat took the seat next to her, pouting. 

 

“I suppose I’ve learned my lesson, LB. That still doesn’t mean I can’t do things better than you.” He said, arms crossed. 

 

“I can sew a sweater.”

 

Chat flexed in his suit.

 

“But I could fill it better.”

 

“I can do most anything.” Ladybug stated, her face now inches from Chat. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response. He stared into her eyes, losing train of thought for a second.

 

_ Her eyes are really pretty… _

 

_ God why is she so close right now… _

 

_ Wow you could go swimming in those eyes they’re so blue… _

 

Chat snapped out of it, realizing that he hadn’t responded in a bit. He had to think of something fast to reply with. 

 

“Can.. uh… you bake a pie?” He asked, mentally face palming himself as he said it. Ladybug leaned back a bit, visually confused by what he asked. Her mouth hung open, as if she had something to say but would know she would regret saying it the second it came out of her mouth. 

 

“Haha…. Neither can I!” He said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. Ladybug gave a confused grin before bursting out laughing. Chat joined in, awkward at first, but finding comfort enough is Ladybug’s laugh to join in on the fun. 

 

“Alright, Chat. I’ll admit that there is one thing that you are better at than me.” Ladybug said. Chat perked up. 

 

“Wait, reall- I mean, of course! What is it, my Lady?” Chat replied.

 

“Your awful puns, while unbearable, seem to be your talent.” Ladybug said. Chat slumped a bit. 

 

“While I appreciate that you admit that I’m the supurrior pun maker, there must be more than that.” Chat replied.

 

Ladybug put a finger to her chin, thinking of something, but a mischievous grin on her face told Chat that she already had something on her mind. 

 

“Ah, yes! Of course! You’re obviously the best partner anyone could ever have, Chat. You definitely win there.” She said, grinning, folding her hands in her lap and she swung her feet off the ledge of the Eiffel Tower. Chat’s face flushed, but gathered himself much quicker this time. He tsked, shaking his finger.

 

“Ah, flattery won’t trick me, LB. No, obviously you win in that category.” He replied, holding out his fist for a fist bump. She grinned, returning the fist bump. 

 

Suddenly, a large crash was heard from the other side of the city. Chat grabbed the beam above him, standing up to get a better look at the city. In the distance, he could see a cloud of dust go up by one of the buildings in the distance. Ladybug stood up to join him, nudging him and pointing over to a giant monster walking by past the cloud of dust. 

 

“Looks like there’s an akuma attack tonight.” Ladybug pointed, pulling out her yoyo to get ready to get it.

 

“Who wants to bet I’ll find out where the akuma is in the victim before you?” Chat challenged, baton in hand. 

 

“You’re on.” Ladybug said, glancing over at him as they both jumped off of the Eiffel Tower towards the akuma. 


	2. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These two kids are absolutely helpless around their crushes.

_Your hair is jet black, your eyes blue as the heavens,_

_I want to ask who you are behind your mysterious mask,_

_I see you every day and I would like you to give me a sign,_

_I shall love you till the end of my days, will you be my Valentine?_

Adrien didn’t think that it was sad that he still remembered the words to the poem he had written Ladybug nearly a year earlier. Sure it was cheesy, but he had gotten a response to it, a response that he was certain had come from Ladybug herself.

_Your hair shines like the sun, your eyes are lucky green_

_I look at you and wonder, your thoughts and dreams,_

_Yes, I would be your valentine, our love is so true,_

_Together for eternity, my heart belongs to you._

Adrien sat at his computer chair, nervously tapping his fingers on the desk as he refreshed the Ladyblog. Certainly Alya would have the images posted soon from the last akuma attack, and Adrien couldn’t be more impatient in seeing them.

Though he wouldn’t openly admit it, Adrien was a frequenter of the Ladyblog. He loved seeing Alya’s crazy theories, as well as the videos and photography that she somehow managed to get during the akuma attacks. A lot of the time, Adrien seemed to spend hours just scrolling through, pleasantly enjoying seeing pictures of himself with Ladybug.

Of course, that would prompt him to immediately get wound up in all of Alya’s theories, wondering who Ladybug could be. He so desperately wanted to know her behind the mask, get to know her through and through, but he knew she thought they had to keep their distance when it came to personal lives, and he respected that.

This most recent akuma attack was a doozy. The akuma had been a teenager who got into trouble for fighting with their siblings, so they angrily stormed off, claiming that it wasn’t fair that she didn’t get a chance to explain herself and that her siblings got into no trouble for anything they did. After storming off, she got akumatized into “Blind Justice”, a villain who rampaged through the city to give everyone the punishments they “deserved.” It had taken a good while to get her down, but Ladybug did fantastic in the fight, swinging around and cleverly finding out how to bring down the akuma.

As always, his lady was miraculous.

As Adrien absentmindedly refreshed the Ladyblog waiting for Alya to update, he didn’t realize that he had begun subconsciously reciting the poem he had written for ladybug.

_Your hair is jet black, your eyes blue as the heavens._

“Still remember that mess of a poem? Gotta say, Romeo, that’s a lot of commitment for a girl who isn’t nearly as good as cheese.” Plagg said, taking a seat on Adrien’s head. Adrien snapped out of his daze, waving his hands around to shoo Plagg away.

“So what if I still remember it? Maybe I remember it because I genuinely like my writing and think that it beautifully described Ladybug.” Adrien defended, continuing to refresh his browser.

Plagg flew up to his face, taking a large bite out of some cheese.

“Or maybe you’re just a hopeless romantic. You don’t even know what she’s like under the mask.” Plagg persisted. Adrien glared at his kwami, leaning back in his chair.

“And? I know that under the mask she’s just as wonderful as she is with it on.” Adrien stated matter-of-factly.

_I want to ask who you are behind your mysterious mask._

Adrien drifted into his own thoughts imagining what she was like under the mask. He could see her walking down a street on a gloomy day in Paris, somehow with the brightest smile on her face. Instead of wearing her superhero outfit, she wore a black tee with a red skirt, a black sweater keeping her warm. She was laughing, talking with a group of friends about normal, everyday things. None of them knew she was Ladybug, but she was just as bright a star as a civilian as she was as Ladybug.

He snapped out of it when Plagg literally bumped into his head this time.

“Earth to Adrien, you still in there?” Plagg question. Adrien groaned, picking up his kwami and setting him down on the desk, just for him to promptly fly back up again into Adrien’s face.

“What makes you like her so much anyway? If you don’t know her.” Plagg asked, taking another bite of his cheese. A sigh released from Adrien’s lips as he looked up at the ceiling.

“What is there not to love? I mean, she just leaves me so,” Adrien threw his hands up in an exasperated motion, at a loss for words, “Helpless! I mean, she so confident, and passionate about keeping Paris safe. Not only that, but she’s beautiful, just her eyes, I mean, I look into them and I’m left helpless. She’s just… fantastic.” His eyes closed, a smile growing on his lips as his voice faded out.

_I see you every day and I would like you to give me a sign._

“See… I…” Adrien tried to continue, but he couldn’t find the correct words.

_God, I see her every day. She’s my best friend next to Nino. I just want to know her better, but she leaves me so…_

_Helpless._

“You really are hopeless, you’re so caught in your daydream that you failed to notice the silly website of yours updated.” Plagg noted, not looking up at Adrien. Adrien shot up in his seat, scooting closer to the computer screen to see all the images.

_I shall love you till the end of my days, will you be my Valentine?_

***

Marinette plopped down on her bed.

“This is not happening.” She groaned, shoving her face into her pillow. Tikki sighed sympathetically, floating near Marinette’s head.

“It’s not that bad, Marinette. He didn’t even seem to mind-” Marinette interrupted her, sitting up in her bed and hugging her pillow. Her face was red, eyes bright and blotchy as she wiped away her tears.

“Are you kidding? I’m a klutz. Only someone like me would see Adrien and then trip, dumping paint on him. He probably hates me now.” Marinette grumbled. Tikki flew up to her, looking her in the eye.

“That’s not true, he even helped you clean up! Adrien even said it was okay after you were profusely apologizing.” Tikki attempted to reassure.

“Everyone says that when someone apologizes, Tikki. It doesn’t mean that they mean it.” Marinette said. She buried her face in her hands.

Marinette just wanted to have a good day that day. She hadn’t the slightest intention of running into Chloe and getting aggravated or running into Adrien and getting flustered. She just wanted to have a relatively normal day, but with her luck, or course that couldn’t happen.

Marinette’s class had been assigned the day to work on make decorations for a school rally. Marinette and Alya had been assigned to painting posters. To be honest, Marinette was perfectly content with that. A day of just crafting and doing art sounded fantastic.

Halfway through the day, their bucket of green paint was empty, and they were only about 75 percent done using the color. As such, Marinette carried the empty can to the art room to refill it. She did her best to be extremely careful, and so far, all seemed to be going well. That was, until she reached the classroom. There, right in front of the door, was Adrien, sleeves rolled up as he and Nino put together flyers to advertise in front of the school.

Marinette was caught in such a daze, she tripped over her own feet, the green paint flying right onto Adrien’s white shirt. Of course Chloe ridiculed her for the rest of class, but Marinette was too mortified by what she had done to even acknowledge it. She just cleaned quickly, apologized a thousand times to Adrien, and went off to work on banners in silence with Alya.

It was a mess of a day, and it made want to simultaneously cringe and cry every time she thought about it.

Of course, she couldn’t forget how gracious Adrien was through the whole ordeal, even though she had spilt paint on what was probably an original Gabriel Agreste design. Adrien didn’t get mad or frustrated, he just laughed it off and helped her clean up, telling her not to worry about the shirt.

Could that boy get any more perfect?

Marinette sighed, standing up out of her bed and walking over to her computer. She turned on the monitor, seeing her desktop screen which had Adrien’s face plastered all over it.

“God Tikki, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like every time I see Adrien I just become-”

***

“Helpless.” Adrien whispered, shaking his head, reciting the poem in his head just one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the inspiration and time to write chapter two today! I'm already very excited about the next chapter, so I'm already working on writing it. 
> 
> In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, I very much appreciate comments and kudos as they give me motivation to continue on! 
> 
> Also reminder that I now have a tumblr (miss-mysteries.tumblr.com) so feel free to follow me or send me a message if you like!
> 
> Thank you for reading and I'll see you guys next time!
> 
> ~Bonnie


	3. I Could Have Danced All Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it is Marinette's birthday and a certain someone plays the piano for her.

“Come on, Marinette! You can’t shy away from doing this.” Alya pushed, whispering to Marinette as they hid behind the front steps of the school. Marinette bit her lip, taking a glance over the sides of the steps to see Adrien standing in front of the school talking to Nino. She whipped her head back around, looking desperately at Alya.

“I can’t do it! Why can’t you just give it to him for me?” Marinette begged, trying to shoved the light blue envelope she held in her hands in Alya’s face. Alya rolled her eyes, lightly pushing it back to Marinette.

“Because you need to face your fears! Besides, you’ve already given invites to the rest of the class!” Alya pointed out.

Marinette rubbed her thumbs over the invite, looking at the intricate designs she had put on it. Swirls and flowers were drawn in gold on the envelope, and Adrien’s name was written in a neat cursive on the front. Inside, the card was an off white, the front decorated with the words “You’re invited” on it in a black pen. The corners each had a tab of gold construction paper on it, sequins placed on them to look like bolts on a book. When the card was flipped open, in large, gold letters it read;

“You are invited to celebrate the 15th birthday of Marinette Dupain-Cheng at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery!” Under the title listed all of the details of where to RSVP, what day the party was, how long it went on, and so on.

“Exactly. The rest of the class has invites. He probably already thinks I didn’t want to invite him!” Marinette rebuttled, her nerves taking over as her hands shook and she tightened her grip on the envelope. Alya place a reassuring hand on Marinette’s shoulder, sighing as she did so.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you girl. Now come on, let’s give him the invite!” Alya proclaimed, pushing Marinette out from behind the stairs and in front of Adrien and Nino. Alya stood up and followed behind her, giving Marinette a slight reassurance that her friend was there by her side.

Marinette took a deep breath, and took a step closer to Adrien and Nino. Neither of the boys noticed her, but her mind went blank. She had no idea what to do or say, and a part of her didn’t even really want to get their attention.

_I mean, I already gave Nino an invite. Maybe he’ll just bring Adrien along anyway and I won’t have to worry about doing this right now!_

And that’s when Marinette heard a distinct coughing coming from behind her. Marinette snapped her head back to Alya, who was looking at everything but Marinette, just whistling as if she had done nothing wrong. Marinette sighed, turning back to see Nino and Adrien looking at her expectantly.

“Hey Marinette. Did you need something?” Adrien asked, turning his body fully to face Marinette. Her eyes went wide. For a second, all she did was slowly blink her eyes, lost in thought as she stared at Adrien.

“Oh well, uh, see, you know how- um, birthday! Uh..” Marinette stuttered, her hands shaking more and more as she kept glancing down at the invite. Her grip on it was so tight not that the paper had started to crinkle and fold, ruining her perfect design of it.

Adrien cocked his head, noticing the envelope in her hands. Marinette glanced between Adrien and the envelope. Marinette closed her eyes, turning away from Adrien as she held out the envelope.

“I’m-having-a-party-for-my-birthday-soon-and-if-it’s-not-too-much-trouble-and-if-your-schedule-allows-then-it-would-be-really-cool-if-you-could-come-over-and-stuff. So yeah that’s all.” Marinette spat out at a spitfire speed. Adrien looked slightly alarmed, but reached for the envelope in Marinette’s hand. His hand brushed over her own, if only for a second, before Marinette released the invite from her killer grip so that he could take it.

Marinette’s face flushed and obvious read as she shuffled her feet, Adrien opened the well made invite with extreme delicacy. He looked it over quickly, Nino glancing over his shoulder to get a look at the custom invite Marinette made for Adrien.

Adrien smiled widely, putting the invite into his school bag.

“I’ll see if I can make it. I’m sure I can work something out with my father to free me up around the time of the party so I can go. Thanks for the invite, Marinette!” Adrien said, walking back with Nino up the steps back to the school. Marinette’s mouth hung open as she watched him enter the school.

It was a good thing Alya was behind her, because otherwise Marinette might’ve tripped backwards and fallen on the concrete ground. She could already feel her legs turning to jelly as Alya rushed up, grabbing her arm to give her balance.

“Woh there Marinette, don’t go falling and injuring yourself!” Alya chuckled as Marinette held her head, regaining balance.

“He said he would clear his schedule. For me. For my birthday.” Marinette said dreamily, her voice soft and mind clearly in places other than the current conversation.

“I know! Must mean he really cares about you,” Alya suggested, wiggling her eyebrows as the two began to approach the school, “Now you better really make sure that outfit you were making for the party is perfect so you can impress him big-time.” Alya joked. Suddenly, Marinette was jolted out of her daze.

“That’s right! I have to make sure it’s perfect. Oh god, Alya I’m not going to have time to finish it with school work and party planning and… other stuff that I’m wrapped up with! I have to make sure it’s flawless now. Ugh, I’m going to have to try and pull an all nighter to work on i-” Alya cut Marinette off from her anxious ramblings.

“Don’t worry about it girl! I was just joking. It’s gonna look flawless no matter what, and he’s sure to love it.” Alya reassured as the two entered the classroom. They were two of the last people in the room, however Mme. Bustier still wasn’t in the room, so everyone was simply chatting away.

As Marinette and Alya took their seats, Marinette couldn’t help but look at Adrien. All she could imagine was him coming to her party, dressed to the nines and bringing a gift for her.

_It would be a small gift, but a thoughtful one nonetheless. He would have carefully picked out a simple bracelet for her. They would hang out the entire night, talking, laughing. Marinette wouldn’t stutter once, keeping her composure and talking to Adrien like old friends. Then, after dinner and cake, while everyone would be dancing to music, a slow song would come on. The two of them would make eye contact. Adrien would put his hands around her waist, she would put hers around his neck. They would sway to the music. They wouldn’t say anything, they wouldn’t need to. Adrien and Marinette would just be happy with each others company. And best of all, Chloe wouldn’t be there to rui-_

“Mariineeettee,”

_Speak of the devil-_

“Are you going to stop staring at Adrien and get out of your little daydream world so I can talk to you?”

_-and she shall appear._

Chloe had spoken those words quite clearly, her voice loud and most definitely catching the attention of the entire class. Marinette could feel her blood temperature rising as she clenched her knuckles shut. She bit the sides of her mouth as she tried to retain composure. This was Chloe she was dealing with, Chloe wasn’t worth her losing her temper for.

“What do you want Chloe?” Marinette asked, turning to look at Chloe, who was learning on Marinette’s desk, leaning inward to make sure that Marinette would be uncomfortable with how close she was getting. Marinette looked Chloe in the eye, cleverly not bringing up how Chloe had just embarrassed her in front of the entire class by saying she was staring at Adrien.

Chloe rolled her eyes at Marinette, acting as if the question was a stupid one to ask. Behind Chloe stood Sabrina, who uncomfortably looked like she was trying almost too hard to look intimidating.

It just made them both look ridiculous.

“So I came to say that I’m not going to your grubby little birthday party at the bakery this weekend.” Chloe replied, very loud so that the entire class could hear.

 _Good. I didn’t want you there. I was just trying to be polite so you wouldn’t bitch at me._ Marinette thought, although kept in her mind as she put on a false face of sadness.

“Really? Oh, well you will be very, very missed, I assure you of that.” Marinette rebuttled, grinning through her teeth, the sarcasm in her voice loud and clear. Chloe stood up straight, crossing her arms.

“Whatever, Dupain-Cheng. That low-life bakery of yours just isn’t worth my time going to, especially for the birthday of someone as lame as you. I just thought you should know that.” Chloe scoffed, turning dramatically and walking back to her seat, Sabrina trailing behind her.

Marinette was fuming. Chloe could be bad, but right now she had just crossed a line that Marinette was not going to deal with today. Marinette shot up out of her seat, fully ready to walk up and punch Chloe in the face, but a strong grip on her arm stopped her.

Marinette turned her head to see Alya shaking her head.

“It’s not worth it Marinette. Chloe wants to get you riled up. Look.” Alya hissed, nodding her head into the direction of the door. Mme. Bustier had just walked in, and if she saw Marinette attacking Chloe, Marinette would certainly be the one getting in trouble, and Chloe would get out scot free, like always.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Marinette sat back down in her seat. Mme. Bustier began the lesson as Chloe and Sabrina sat giggling in their seats, taking a few seconds to look back at Marinette every now and then, mocking her and making faces. It took every ounce of patience in Marinette’s system to not throw a punch at her.

When it was finally time for lunch, Marinette couldn’t feel more relieved. She ran out of the classroom, stomping her way out of the school. She wanted out of there as soon as possible, huffing down the halls and steam practically coming out of her ears.

Marinette got to the exit of the school, and was ready to make a run for it to get home when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Being as frustrated as she was, she didn’t feel like being touched, and was ready to judo flip the person behind her. That was, of course, before she turned around to see Adrien standing behind her. Suddenly the angry face that she had been sporting the first half of the day was wiped away, replaced with one of shock and slight confusion.

“Hey, I’m sorry about what Chloe said today. She was really out of line there.” He said, his voice small.

“You shouldn’t have to apologize for the things Chloe says. She should be able to see when she’s crossed a line.” Marinette replied bluntly. Adrien scratched the back of his neck.

“Yeah, that’s true. I still feel a need to apologize for her.” Adrien said. Marinette sighed. When it came to Adrien’s friendship with Chloe and trying to teach him about the things she does wrong, it was a lost cause.

Marinette was getting ready to say goodbye to Adrien and head off home, but he said one final thing before she could go.

“Would you mind if I had lunch with you at your parents bakery today? I really like it there, and the food is fantastic.” Adrien asked. Marinette was taken aback.

Adrien Agreste was asking to go with her. To her house. To eat lunch. Because he liked it there.

_Take that Chloe._

Marinette grinned from ear to ear.

“Yeah, uh, I wouldn’t mind that at all!”

***

That night, Marinette set out for patrol earlier than normal. Even though she had calmed down for the most part about Chloe after having lunch (as she was too busy freaking out that she had eaten lunch with Adrien Agreste), she was still salty about the whole situation.

In her Ladybug outfit, she swung across the city lamps of Paris, the breeze from flight blowing her hair around and cooling off her entire body. The experience of being Ladybug and having the freedom to just run and fly across her home city was so refreshing and was all in all a great destresser.

After a good 15 minutes of swinging with her thoughts, Ladybug took a rest on a random building that she was nearby. She had run out of breath, and was taking a second to pause and gain her energy back.

She was about to head off again before a familiar voice interrupted her.

“Seems like my Lady’s out a bit early today, and in such a rush too. That eager to get away from me?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes, already recognizing who it was. Without turning around, she replied.

“Oh yeah, just in such a rush to get away from you _chaton.”_ She smirked, the sarcasm in her voice heard and interpreted rather easily, as she turned around to greet Chat Noir, who was standing about 10 feet behind her. She walked up to him, the two of them doing a hello-high five.

“And how are you on this fine night?” Chat asked, getting down on one knee and kissing her hand.

“Well I was fine until you interrupted me, Chat Noir.” She replied, pulling her hand away and raising an eyebrow. Her partner stood back up, shaking his head.

“Me-ouch, Ladybug. That hurt me right here.” He said, putting his fist to his heart and looking at her with a face of sarcastic sadness.

“Oh, woe is you.” Ladybug replied, voice monotone and conveying no emotion. The two partners caught eye contact, and burst out laughing at their ridiculous conversation.

“So, are you ready to start patrolling?” Ladybug asked. Chat hesitated before responding.

“Actually, before we start patrol, I was wondering if I could get your advice on something.” Chat said. Ladybug paused before responding. What kind of advice would he be asking her for?

“Sure. What’s up?” Ladybug hesitantly asked.

Chat leaned on his baton like a cane, not making eye contact with Ladybug as he spoke.

“Okay, so I have a friend who I need to get a gift for soon, but I don’t exactly know what she would want. Do you have any idea on what a girl might want for a birthday?” Chat asked. Ladybug took a second to think. The first thing that popped into her mind, of course, was that Chat Noir had a friend with a birthday around the same time of her own, but she shrugged it off as mere coincidence.

“Well,” Ladybug replied slowly, “That depends on a few things. Most importantly, it depends on the girl and what she’s like, and secondly it also depends on what kind of budget you have to spend on the gift.”

Chat paused, and responded.

“Okay, so she’s a really creative person. And budget’s not an issue, trust me.” Chat replied.

Ladybug cocked her head. _Budget’s not an issue? How much money did this stray cat have lying around?_ A lightbulb went off in her head, and she thought of a brilliant idea.

“Well then it’s obvious what you have to do! Make her something from the heart. She’ll appreciate the creativity that you put into it, and that even though you could have just taken the easy way out and just bought her something super expensive, you instead put into account what she is like and made her something specifically for her.” Ladybug explained. Chat’s face lit up as she finished.

“Thanks LB! I think I have an idea of what to get my friend now. The gift will be _spot-on purrfect_ , thanks to you, Bugaboo.” Chat replied.

“I do my best!” Ladybug said proudly, “Now come on, let’s get this patrol started.”

***

The day of Marinette’s party, she was a little more than anxious. She had woken up around 5 in the morning, much earlier than she would like, but her nerves were driving her to work around the entire day.

Alya had come over early for the party, arriving at noon to help with decorating and set up to make sure everything was perfect.

Marinette’s parents had closed the bakery for the day, allowing the girls to have free reign over decoration while Tom and Sabine worked on baking food for the party.

Alya and Marinette had gone shopping before hand, buying streamers, balloons, and other things to make the bakery look decorated and brighter than usual. The girls set up the streamers all over, placed centerpieces on a few of the tables, and spent a good about of time trying to blow up dozens of balloons. For the most part, decorating had eased many of Marinette’s nerves, and helped her to calm down and have fun with Alya before the party.

The final rearranging they did was setting up two tables in the entry part of the bakery, and a single, small tv tray in the back, hard wooded area of the bakery to put a radio on so people could listen to music and hang out. Now, all that had to be done was to have the food placed right before people started arriving.

Once the decorating was done, Alya and Marinette took a seat at the table they had set up. Marinette’s parents brought them some food to snack on for a bit. Alya was sipping on some tea she had made, before breaking the resting silence between them.

“So Mari, how’s that dress coming?” She asked, taking another sip of her drink. Suddenly, Marinette’s eyes went wide, and she almost choked on the bread she had been eating.

“The….dress?” Marinette asked, mouth still full of food. Alya sighed.

“You forgot to finish the dress, didn’t you?”

“I forgot to finish the dress.”

Marinette ran upstairs to her room, and began working like a madman on the dress. They only had about two hours until the party was planned to start, but that didn’t stop Marinette from ripping the dress off of it’s form and sewing all the pieces not sewn onto it yet. Alya was on her phone in Marinette’s room the entire time, taking glances to see Marinette’s desperate face as she tried to finish the dress in time.

Soon enough, there were only 30 minutes until the party was planned to start. Alya went downstairs to man the party while Marinette finished the dress. The food was set up, there was a place to put presents if anyone bought some, and music was playing, specifically Jagged Stones new CD.

About 15 minutes before the party actually started is when people started to show up. The first to show up were Mylene and Ivan. Ivan didn’t look extremely happy to be there, looking uncomfortable to be at a social party, but what Ivan lacked in social energy, Mylene made up for with her positivity and excitement to be at the party.

While Ivan hadn’t, Mylene had dressed up for the occasion, her hair in it’s usual playful style, but she dressed in white dress with blue accenting.

Alya let them in, showing Mylene where to set the small gift bag she brought and sparking up some welcoming conversations, asking how their weekends had been so far and explaining that Marinette would be down soon.

Following Mylene and Ivan was Alix, Kim, and Max, Alix and Kim arranging some sort of competition while Max made notes. Unlike Mylene, Alix didn’t get dressed up, and still had her roller blades by her side. Max and Kim were dressed in jeans, although now Kim wore a black polo and Max had a lightly colored button up.

Soon the people started filing in. Nathanael, Rose, Juleka, Nino, and even Sabrina showed up for a few seconds (probably against Chloe’s wishes.) Alya still was managing the party, although most people had split into their own friend groups to have conversations, so there wasn’t much for Alya to do except tell people that Marinette would be down soon.

The time was around 5:30 when a final car pulled up to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Through the front doors stepped Adrien, dressed in black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a black button up with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He looked a little dressed up for the party, but for the most part nobody thought that was weird for the son of Gabriel Agreste.

Adrien awkwardly walked through the bakery, making his way to where Nino and Alya had been talking and standing next to them.

“Hey Nino, Alya. Where’s Marinette?” He asked, rubbing his left arm while glancing around the room at their classmates.

“Upstairs, finishing a dress she wanted to make for today. She should be down any minute.” Alya explained, obviously tired of answering the question so many times. For a birthday party for Marinette, there was a surprising lack of Marinette.

That’s when everyone heard the door at the back of the bakery slam open, and Marinette came stumbling out, almost falling forward on her face from the momentum of running down the steps.

“Sorry I’m late guys! I’m really glad all of you could make it!” She grinned, regaining her balance on her feet, waving at the group of friends she had standing before her.

And even though she had stumbled her way into the party, a little less graceful than a Cinderella, she silenced the room with how she looked. All eyes were on her, which was well deserved.

Marinette’s dress had turned out beautiful. It was a soft blue color, truly making her eyes pop. It was a strapless dress, going down to her knees with a fluffy skirt. The fabric was covered in glitter and rhinestones, and the lights of the bakery reflected off of the dress, making Mariette shine.

She had taken her hair down for the occasion, something that she didn’t do often. Her hair fell neatly onto her shoulders, with a slight curl and bounce to it.

Marinette was an honest to god showstopper.

It was Alix that broke the silence.

“Woo! Happy birthday, Marinette!” She called out, cupping her mouth with her hands. Everyone in the class then followed with spouting out their birthday wishes to her. Marinette smiled, greeting everyone before making it to where Nino, Alya, and Adrien were standing. Adrien waved to her as she approached.

“Hey Marinette. You look fantastic!” Adrien complimented. Marinette’s face flushed as she stared down at her feet.

“Thanks. You too.” She said, smiling at her feet. Alya pulled Marinette in for a hug.

“The dress turned out wonderful! I don’t even know how you managed to complete it in 2 hours, nevertheless so perfectly!” Alya said, smothering her friend. Marinette laughed.

“To be honest, I don’t really know either” She responded.

The rest of the party went on as typical, Marinette occasionally walking around to talk to everyone from her class, but for the most part hanging out with Alya, Nino, and Adrien. Everyone grabbed food from the tables when they were hungry, and being a buch of collège students, they snacked throughout the entire party.

Finally it came time for Marinette to open presents. Her parents were insistent on taking pictures of her opening all of them, making it a much bigger deal than Marinette really wanted. While most of the presents were from her parents themselves, there were some gifts from school friends, like a necklace from Mylene, a scrapbook from Rose, some Jagged Stone merch from Nino, an intricate painting of the Eiffel Tower from Nathanael, a bunch of sewing and drawing stuff from Alya, and just straight up cash from Alix. Of course, Marinette was disappointed to find that there was a gift missing from one specific classmate.

Adrien.

Once present giving was over, everyone went back to their socializing. Marinette had her parents take the presents away, but it was clear to anyone who could see that she seemed disappointed about something. Alya tried to ask her about it, but Marinette shrugged it off.

Adrien had left the group temporarily to get something to eat from the table, and Nino, Alya, and Marinette had shifted their conversation to talking about a new event going on at their school. Marinette was laughing along with her friends, and for the most part it seemed like she was better about Adrien not getting her a gift.

That’s when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Marinette turned around to see Adrien standing there.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Adrien asked. Marinette quickly turned her head to Alya, who winked at her and gave her a thumbs up. Looking back at Adrien, Marinette smiled extremely wide and nodded her head.

The two of them stepped to the side of the party, near where the cash register was in the bakery.

“So, I did get you a gift,” Marinette’s heart was beating faster and faster, “but I can’t exactly give it to you here. Would you mind if we went somewhere so I could show you it?” Adrien asked. Marinette opened her mouth, but couldn’t bring herself to form any words. So, she simply said nothing and nodded her head.

Marinette told her parents she would be right back, and they nodded the teens off as Adrien and Marinette exited the bakery, followed by the suspicious eyes of their peers.

“So… what did you want to show me? Like, why couldn’t you just bring the present to the bakery?” Marinette asked. Adrien was checking both sides of the road before crossing in the direction of the school, Marinette following.

“Well, it’s not a physical gift, per se, but more something that I created that couldn’t really be taken to your house, if that makes any sense.” Adrien replied, turning back to her and smiling. At this point, Marinette knew that her face was bright red, and she didn’t know how to respond.

That’s when Adrien stopped walking, and Marinette nearly walked into him, or at least she would have if she hadn’t caught herself. Adrien started pacing up a staircase; the staircase to their school.

“The school? Shouldn’t it be closed by now?” She pondered. Adrien chuckled slightly.

“There’s a game tonight for one of the sports teams, so the school is open later than usual so that the kids on the team can leave their stuff here while they’re all at the stadium” Adrien explained, stepping through the front doors. Sure enough, the lights were on in the school, and the locker room doors were opened wide.

Adrien lead Marinette up the steps before stopping in front of one specific room and opening the door for her.

One look inside clued her in to where she had just walked in.

The music room.

Marinette wasn’t in the music room often, and was surprised to see it as a bit of a mess. There was sheet music laying out under and ontop of seats, and loose papers could be found throughout the room.

At the front of the room was a piano, set up to be played.

Marinette watched Adrien as he entered the room grinning, stopping at the bench and bowing, gesturing towards the seat.

“Care to take a seat?” He asked, a crooked and silly smile on his face. Marinette’s eyes widened as she took a seat on the bench, and Adrien sat next to her.

“Thanks.” She squeaked out of her mouth, taking a sharp breath. She was looking straight ahead at the piano and not at him. They were far too close for comfort, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him, as she knew that her face was bright red and her hands were shaking terribly.

“Okay, so I figured that you would appreciate if I made you something, seeing as how creative you are,” Adrien explained, gesturing to the dress she had made, “but I’m not all that talented in creating things myself. But, I thought that the one thing I could make you was a song I could play on the piano, so I had to go someplace with a piano to show you. I hope that that’s okay.”

“Yup. That’s. Fine.” Marinette coughed out, hands in her lap, still staring straight ahead of her.

“Great!” Adrien said, his already goofy grin growing wider. With that, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and setting his hands on the keys.

And he began to play.

His fingers gracefully made their way to the different notes on the piano, forming a beautiful song. It was soft, not abrasive or intense like many piano compositions were, but instead quiet and soothing.

That, of course, didn’t mean it lacked emotion. It hit Marinette like a bullet, the music automatically moving her. It reminded her of happy days, but not the ones you expected to be happy. No, the ones that start off miserable and unbearable, but then something happens to turn it all around, something that changes your life.

Something like meeting a new friend in the rain.

Marinette brought herself to look over at Adrien. He seemed lost in the music, playing from near memory. Marinette couldn’t help but get lost in his light green eyes as he concentrated on the music.

He had wrote this happy, yet soft and calming song...

_...With her in mind._

_Is that what he thought of when he thought of her? Those rainy days stopped by a single rain of sun? Those days inside, watching as snow fell as you sat by the fire?_

Before Marinette knew it, the song was over, and Adrien was looking at her nervously while she stared at him.

“So, did you like it? I’m really sorry that it’s not like a traditional gift, but I thought you might-”

Marinette interrupted him there.

“I loved it Adrien. That was amazing.” She said, a smile on her face.

Adrien was grinning widely.

“Great! I’m really glad you liked it. Happy Birthday Marinette.” Adrien replied, pulling Marinette in for a hug.

She froze.

Adrien was hugging her.

After playing a song for her that he wrote on the piano.

It took her a second to comprehend all of this at once, but she hugged Adrien back awkwardly before ending the hug, and pulling out her phone from her purse, which she had brought with her.

“Would you mind… playing it… well, again so I can record it? I would love to listen to it after today.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

***

By the time the two of them got back, the party was nearing it’s end. Parents were either coming to pick kids up, or they were walking back home on their own account. Adrien was one of the first to leave, the Gorilla showing up only 10 minutes after Marinette and Adrien got back to the bakery.

Adrien waved her goodbye as he stepped out, and Marinette looked like she was in a daze; Her head was somewhere that her body wasn’t.

Right after Adrien left, Alya pulled Marinette aside.

“You _better_ explain what just happened there or _so help me_ …”

“I’ll explain once everyone leaves.”

Alya was staying the night after the party, so the two friends quickly started picking up the bakery before her parents excused them to go upstairs.

Alya practically dragged Marinette up to her room, demanding to know where Adrien had taken her and what his gift was.

“A song? He wrote you a song!” Alya replied excitedly. Marinette was grinning as wide as the Cheshire cat, nodding her head rapidly up and down. Alya nearly squealed, pulling Marinette in for a hug.

“Oh my god, that’s so romantic! Was it a nice song?” Alya asked interrogatively. Leave it to the journalist to ask for all of the details. Marinette played her to recording, closing her eyes and swaying to the music. By the time it was over, she was off in lala land, and Alya needed to snap at her to get her attention.

“Alya, I don’t think I’m going to be able to go to bed today.” Marinette said dreamily. Alya raised an eyebrow, but Marinette continued.

“My head is just too light to set it down, I’m not going to be able to sleep at all tonight!” Marinette proclaimed. She looked Alya directly in her eyes, her face of glee slightly terrifying her friend.

“God, I could have danced all night, and then begged for more!” She continued, falling back onto the floor, “but he left too soon to dance.” She pouted.

Alya laughed, jokingly messing up Marinette’s hair.

“Don’t worry, Mari. I think things are going well for you two, even if you didn’t have the chance to dance the night away with him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends Marinette's birthday! I had so much fun writing this chapter (which probably explains the length!) Honestly, I just love the idea of Adrien playing the piano for Marinette on her birthday, and so this chapter appeared! (I wonder how Chloe would feel knowing their trip to the school happened and Adrien wrote that specific song for Marinette.... hmm...)
> 
> This chapter was honestly so much fun to write! Next Chapter Clue; Someone might try and rain on Marinette's parade, and she's not having any of it. 
> 
> Thank you guys as always for reading, I don't think I say it enough how much I appreciate you guys reading my work and enjoying it!
> 
> See you guys soon!
> 
> ~Bonnie
> 
> EDIT: Oh, I also forgot to add that I now have a tumblr, where i am miss-mysteries! If you want to send me asks or chat or just check out the ML stuff I reblog then feel free to check it out!


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